Earticle

Adolescence is a critical period during which physical activity (PA) may influence cognitive processes and academic performance (AP). Although PA has been linked to favorable academic outcomes, evidence remains mixed with respect to activity intensity, frequency, and developmental stage. This systematic review narratively synthesized recent empirical studies (2024–2025) examining the relationship between PA and AP in healthy adolescents, with attention to activity characteristics, develop-mental moderators, and cognitive and psychosocial mediators. Search-es in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar identified 9 original research from 825 articles. Overall, moderate-to-vigorous PA and vigor-ous PA were generally associated with better AP, however, effect sizes were modest and associations were not uniform. Several studies indi-cated curvilinear relationships, whereby moderate PA was associated with optimal AP, while higher frequency or intensity was linked to weak-er outcomes or inconsistent associations. Positive relationships were more consistently observed in middle school than high school students. Evidence from selected studies suggested that PA may influence AP in-directly through attention, inhibitory control, self-concept, and physical and mental health. These findings support promoting regular, moderate- intensity PA within adolescents’ daily routines, particularly in school-based programs, while emphasizing balanced approaches that account for developmental stage and mediating mechanisms.

Activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL), main indica-tors of functional independence in older adults, are closely associated with depression and social networks and represent a critical determi-nant of well-being. Despite the growing body of research, both original and review articles to date have been limited in their ability to provide a comprehensive and coherent explanation of the interrelationships among these three domains, largely due to methodological constraints. Accordingly, this study systematically reviewed a wide range of publi-cations addressing functional ability, depression, and social networks in older adults, with the aim of providing evidence-based insights to in-form strategies for maintaining well-being and preparing for functional decline in aging populations. The synthesized findings indicate that de-clines in functional ability, as reflected by impairments in IADL/ADL, are associated with reduced instrumental ADL, increased depressive symp-toms, and decreased social participation, collectively contributing to a self-reinforcing cycle of functional and psychological deterioration. No-tably, this review demonstrates that while functional disability increases the risk of depression, robust social networks serve as protective fac-tors that mitigate both functional and psychological decline.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) exposes the developing fetal brain to hyperglycemia and has been linked to adverse neurocognitive out-comes in offspring; however, effective postnatal strategies and underly-ing mechanisms remain incompletely defined. Here, we tested whether early-life aerobic exercise rescues hippocampus-dependent memory impairment and canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling deficits in offspring born to dams with streptozotocin-induced GDM. Pregnant C57BL/6 mice received streptozotocin (40 mg/kg, gestational day 7) or saline. Male offspring were weaned and assigned to sedentary control or treadmill exercise (15 m/min, 60 min/day, 5 days/wk, 2 weeks), generat-ing four groups: saline control (Sal-CON, n=12), saline exercise (Sal-Ex, n=12), GDM control (GDM-CON, n=12), and GDM exercise (GDM-Ex, n=12). Spatial learning and reference memory were assessed using the Morris water maze, and spatial working memory was evaluated with a T-maze task. Hippocampal expression of Wnt3, β-catenin, and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) was quantified by Western blot-ting. GDM offspring exhibited impaired hippocampal memory perfor-mance, evidenced by a reduced hidden-to-visible platform latency ratio in the Morris water maze and loss of novelty preference in the T-maze. These behavioral deficits were accompanied by suppression of canon-ical Wnt signaling, with decreased hippocampal Wnt3 and β-catenin and increased GSK-3β in GDM-CON compared with controls. Notably, postnatal treadmill exercise significantly improved both reference and working memory and normalized Wnt/β-catenin pathway components in GDM offspring. Collectively, these findings indicate that early-life aer-obic exercise mitigates GDM-associated cognitive vulnerability, at least in part, by reactivating hippocampal Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

The global aging population is rapidly increasing, with associated de-clines in motor and cognitive function leading to higher fall risk and re-duced independence. Exercise interventions improve strength, balance, and cognition, but accessibility barriers remain. While technology as-sistance programs are promising, they often lack clinical perspectives, are difficult to adapt, and lack features that encourage participation. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a motion recognition-based interactive training program designed by a physical therapist to en-hance motor function and physical fitness in older adults. Twenty-eight community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years) were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=13) or control group (n=15). The experi-mental group completed three weekly sessions of motion recognition exercises with adaptive feedback for 4 weeks, while the control group performed stretching. Outcomes included task performance metrics (attempts, corrections, accuracy) automatically recorded by the program and fitness measures from the senior fitness test. The experimental group showed significant increases in attempts and corrections across all body parts, with notable accuracy improvement in head movements (P<0.05). Flexibility significantly improved between groups, while both groups improved in lower extremity strength and endurance. No signifi-cant changes were observed in upper limb strength or agility. A clinical-ly designed, motion recognition-based interactive program enhanced motor performance and flexibility in older adults. Incorporating adaptive difficulty and real-time feedback, it shows potential as a scalable, cost- effective digital intervention for promoting active aging.